Show off your tilefish!

[cdw79]

Question for the resident tilefish experts! It's looking more and more likely that to get a purple tilefish in I'm going to need to buy online. I've been in contact with several companies to get quotes, but it occurred to me- tilefish are inherently bad shippers, so even if they are acclimatized to captive life, would a second round of being shipped across the country negate all the effort put in to get them settled in? If that's the case then there isn't much of a point of bringing in a tilefish pre-quarantined (apartment life is hard lol) if it may well succumb to disease in the second round of shipping, in which case I suppose I'll just wait patiently for an LFS to get one, one day. Any thoughts?

 

[i cant think]

Question for the resident tilefish experts! It's looking more and more likely that to get a purple tilefish in I'm going to need to buy online. I've been in contact with several companies to get quotes, but it occurred to me- tilefish are inherently bad shippers, so even if they are acclimatized to captive life, would a second round of being shipped across the country negate all the effort put in to get them settled in? If that's the case then there isn't much of a point of bringing in a tilefish pre-quarantined (apartment life is hard lol) if it may well succumb to disease in the second round of shipping, in which case I suppose I'll just wait patiently for an LFS to get one, one day. Any thoughts?

So I find the shipping is just hard on them due to them needing to settle into a peaceful environment, I personally recommend if possible to try order from an LFS however I know in some cases it’s not possible.

The worst thing about shipping is the stress, there’s very little chance the fish would get ill again unless something else in the tank has that and passes it on. These fish tend to be extremely shy when shipped however because it’s a purpureus, I’d say you have a better chance at getting it established as they aren’t as finicky as something like a luteus, chlupatyi, fourmanoiri ect…

 

[cdw79]

Interesting- do the swim bladder infections (which I've read is especially common with them) come from them being brought to the surface then? I'm not particularly familiar. But it seems, then, like LFS is ideal, conditioned + shipping a somewhat distant second option (with the knowledge that lots of stress will come with a second shipping experience)

 

[Fishfreak2009]

This guy finally settled in, and is eating well. Taking mysis straight from the turkey baster.

 

[i cant think]

This guy finally settled in, and is eating well. Taking mysis straight from the turkey baster.

He’s beautiful! Great to hear he’s doing just fine too, such a shame you lost one of the marcosi’s though. Hopefully you find another and do try it!

I don’t think H. luteus could ever compare to this guy though, he looks so pretty with the two shades of grey on his body and the black in his tail.

 

[sc50964]

Ime, this type of fish needs to have a specie only tank with enough headroom between water surface & the tank top so that jumping won’t hurt them. I’m in the process of setting this up now.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Ime, this type of fish needs to have a specie only tank with enough headroom between water surface & the tank top so that jumping won’t hurt them. I’m in the process of setting this up now.

My fourmanoiri seems to have settled pretty well. No clue about the remaining skunk (marcosi) though, or if it is even still alive. My wife said when she saw it the first day it had a small wound on it, but we only ever saw one at a time after the first day, and it didn't have any wounds. And she pulled one dead (with no injuries or reasons as to why it perished obvious, and me not home to do a proper necropsy), and have not seen another Skunk tile make an appearance in the tank yet. Makes me wonder if it died the first night and the CUC took care of it...

I had a pair of skunk tiles in my old 380 gallon, and they never settled until I added a lot more fish. All the small fish acting as dithers made them much more comfortable. They went from hiding constantly, to almost always out swimming as a pair. They'd only dart back to their burrow at night or when all the chromis and anthias darted to the rocks (basically if one of the triggerfish made a rush towards them to grab food).

These fish are actually pretty hardy fish, if you can get initially healthy fish and get them to settle in. The marcosi in my current system that we would see out and about tended to like swimming at the surface with it's head bobbing out of the water. It never really settled down, even though it ate pretty well. I've only ever had 2 other fish do that, who also never adjusted and eventually passed away. One was a copperband butterfly (and I've kept multiple others of those previously without that issue) and one was a royal pencil wrasse (who ate and lived for about 4 months, but always seemed stressed and would pace and swim with it's head out all the time). I've also kept other pencil wrasses previously without issue, it was only this 1 individual who did that. None of those fish ever settled down, and all 3 of them that have done the pacing and swimming with head out of the water eventually perished. Some fish just don't adapt.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

He's such an inquisitive fish. Always watching.

 

[sc50964]

These must be coming in quite a bit lately. Haven’t seen them over the past 15 yrs and now one LFS had like 6 of them.

 

[i cant think]

These must be coming in quite a bit lately. Haven’t seen them over the past 15 yrs and now one LFS had like 6 of them.

They’ll probably vanish in a year or so - These fish are still rather hard to find and get hold of.

 

[sc50964]

They’ll probably vanish in a year or so - These fish are still rather hard to find and get hold of.

Ok then great that I got 4 of them to go along with 3 skunks.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

Ok then great that I got 4 of them to go along with 3 skunks.

I haven't seen my 2nd skunk tile since the day it went in the tank. I've pretty much given up hope it's in there.

Only way I'll replace it is if a local place has them and they look healthy and settled in. Not shipping them anymore. To have 1/3 tilefish make it more than 2 weeks is a sad statistic. The fourmanoiri is doing great, settled right in, eating like a champ, and barely even hides any more.

 

[i cant think]

I haven't seen my 2nd skunk tile since the day it went in the tank. I've pretty much given up hope it's in there.

Only way I'll replace it is if a local place has them and they look healthy and settled in. Not shipping them anymore. To have 1/3 tilefish make it more than 2 weeks is a sad statistic. The fourmanoiri is doing great, settled right in, eating like a champ, and barely even hides any more.

That’s great news about the fourmanoiri, not so great about the skunks. I don’t recommend giving up already! My guy goes into hiding every so often and doesn’t come out for a few hours-days.

 

[Doctor Faust]

Oh yes, tilefish. I’ve had almost all of the ones on the market, and in various set ups with various foods and various degrees of success. Currently have a Fourmanoiri tilefish (from 2 that I had), 1 lined Grammica dartfish and 2 zebra lined darts/tiles. They are in a 45 with seahorses. They have to be healthy specimen to begin with. Next, need to be young enough to accustom to an aquarium. Must have caves or suitable hiding places. Requires live/frozen food, but some have even taken pellets, tho not exclusively as I've never fed pellets as a main diet.
My favorites are:
Flashing
Purple (purpureus)
Fourmanoiri
Yellow (luteus)
Oreni
They catch exoparasites more than other, scaly fish, but fresh baths do wonders, especially for an active, feeding tile.
My tanks are pretty crazy by most standards, so they’ve come and gone mostly (due to parasites, jumping, predation, bad/unhealthy specimen, etc), but the longest I’ve kept a tilefish is a yellow one and a pair of purples, in a 55 with all sorts of fish: the yellow for 1.5yrs, purples for 1yr. Most tilefish I’ve had loved getting petted, by finger mostly, but in case of a bad itch, with tweezers as well.
If you can have a tilefish that connects with you, then it will be one of the most rewarding and favorite fish you’ve had. If its a bad specimen, in a wrong tank, or doesn’t get used to you and your habits, then don’t get used to them lol.

 

[Doctor Faust]

Oh yes, tilefish. I’ve had almost all of the ones on the market, and in various set ups with various foods and various degrees of success. Currently have a Fourmanoiri tilefish (from 2 that I had), 1 lined Grammica dartfish and 2 zebra lined darts/tiles. They are in a 45 with seahorses. They have to be healthy specimen to begin with. Next, need to be young enough to accustom to an aquarium. Must have caves or suitable hiding places. Requires live/frozen food, but some have even taken pellets, tho not exclusively as I've never fed pellets as a main diet.
My favorites are:
Flashing
Purple (purpureus)
Fourmanoiri
Yellow (luteus)
Oreni
They catch exoparasites more than other, scaly fish, but fresh baths do wonders, especially for an active, feeding tile.
My tanks are pretty crazy by most standards, so they’ve come and gone mostly (due to parasites, jumping, predation, bad/unhealthy specimen, etc), but the longest I’ve kept a tilefish is a yellow one and a pair of purples, in a 55 with all sorts of fish: the yellow for 1.5yrs, purples for 1yr. Most tilefish I’ve had loved getting petted, by finger mostly, but in case of a bad itch, with tweezers as well.
If you can have a tilefish that connects with you, then it will be one of the most rewarding and favorite fish you’ve had. If its a bad specimen, in a wrong tank, or doesn’t get used to you and your habits, then don’t get used to them lol.

 

[i cant think]

Oh yes, tilefish. I’ve had almost all of the ones on the market, and in various set ups with various foods and various degrees of success. Currently have a Fourmanoiri tilefish (from 2 that I had), 1 lined Grammica dartfish and 2 zebra lined darts/tiles. They are in a 45 with seahorses. They have to be healthy specimen to begin with. Next, need to be young enough to accustom to an aquarium. Must have caves or suitable hiding places. Requires live/frozen food, but some have even taken pellets, tho not exclusively as I've never fed pellets as a main diet.
My favorites are:
Flashing
Purple (purpureus)
Fourmanoiri
Yellow (luteus)
Oreni
They catch exoparasites more than other, scaly fish, but fresh baths do wonders, especially for an active, feeding tile.
My tanks are pretty crazy by most standards, so they’ve come and gone mostly (due to parasites, jumping, predation, bad/unhealthy specimen, etc), but the longest I’ve kept a tilefish is a yellow one and a pair of purples, in a 55 with all sorts of fish: the yellow for 1.5yrs, purples for 1yr. Most tilefish I’ve had loved getting petted, by finger mostly, but in case of a bad itch, with tweezers as well.
If you can have a tilefish that connects with you, then it will be one of the most rewarding and favorite fish you’ve had. If its a bad specimen, in a wrong tank, or doesn’t get used to you and your habits, then don’t get used to them lol.

Have you ever owned a chlupatyi? If so, what was your experience with it? Also when you say “Wrong tank” what do you mean? I’ve seen these guys thrive in tanks with some rather aggressive tangs.

Mine did another Houdini two days ago, didn’t come out yesterday which is worrying. Nothing stressing him out so, it’s weird but I guess it’s him just wanting to show off what he’s known for.

 

[i cant think]

Well, I can now say the tilefish has died…
I don’t know why it died but I needed to get food into him and he was normally out before the third day so I tried to tear the rock work apart and he was just laying there breathing heavily. I got him in a net and put a towel over the part of the tank where the net was (All along the length of the tank) to try calm him down without stressing the others out. I went out for a couple minutes, got home and unfortunately he was dead. One of the hardest deaths to come by, not even with price but because of personality.


I’m not hunting for another one, if I can find a pair I’ll take them. The Jade will possibly be going depending on how I feel when I find another Chlupatyi.

 

[Tcook]

Sad to hear. One of my purples is thinner and dumber than the other. I worry about him.

 

[i cant think]

Sad to hear. One of my purples is thinner and dumber than the other. I worry about him.

Fingers crossed he makes it through it… It’s strange because this wasn’t even thinning but it wasn’t eating for the last few days. This wasn’t a fun one to find, annoying too because he was definitely dead (I was waiting to see a sign of him living and even did a small “poke test” and still had not reaction).

 

[Doctor Faust]

Have you ever owned a chlupatyi? If so, what was your experience with it? Also when you say “Wrong tank” what do you mean? I’ve seen these guys thrive in tanks with some rather aggressive tangs.

Mine did another Houdini two days ago, didn’t come out yesterday which is worrying. Nothing stressing him out so, it’s weird but I guess it’s him just wanting to show off what he’s known for.

Chlupatyis that I’ve had (1 of them is dubious) have been very reclusive, scared, and in my assessment, needing a much more empty tank with lots of quick darting places. That’s also kind of what i mean by wrong tank. That hiding out, unless just the first few days, is not a very good sign. Maybe try a bit dimmer lights overall. But once they get used to you and eat, they are pretty tough fish, both healthwise and with other aggressive fish. Just not overly aggressive ones.